Penicillium griseofulvum F1959, high-production strain of pyripyropene a, specific inhibitor of acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase 2.

Acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) catalyzes cholesterol esterification and plays an important role in the intestinal absorption of cholesterol, hepatic production of lipoproteins, and accumulation of cholesteryl ester within cells. During the course of screening to find ACAT inhibitors from microbial sources, the present authors isolated pyripyropene A from Penicillium griseofulvum F1959. Pyripyropene A, an ACAT2-specific inhibitor, has already been produced from Aspergillus fumigatus. Yet, Aspergillus fumigatus is a pathogen and only produces a limited amount of pyripyropene A, making the isolation of pyripyropene A troublesome. In contrast, Penicillium griseofulvum F1959 was found to produce approximately 28 times more pyripyropene A than Aspergillus fumigatus, plus this report also describes the ideal conditions for the production of pyripyropene A by Penicillium griseofulvum F1959 and its subsequent purification.